 In just a moment X minus one but first no one can deny that spring is in the air and to prepare for the new season NBC's weekday brings you some timely and useful features. One is a new series with Phil Lampy on gardening tips for both city and country dwellers. The second feature brings you hints for the best use of leisure time and you can also bet that Joe Copeland famous dress designer will enlighten you on the spring fashion picture when she appears on tomorrow's show. Listen in and hear it all on NBC's weekday tomorrow morning and now stay tuned for X minus one on NBC. Countdown for Blastoff X minus five four three two X minus one fire. From the far horizons of the unknown come transcribed tales of new dimensions in time and space. These are stories of the future adventures in which you'll live in a million could be years on a thousand maybe worlds. The national broadcasting company in cooperation with Galaxy science fiction magazine presents X minus one. Tonight's story a gun for dinosaur by L. Sprague big camp. Adjust whiskey please no soda ice Mr. Rivers good heavens know I have been in America for some time but not that long well to a fine dinosaur. Just a moment Mr. Seligman I won't take you hunting late Mesozoic dinosaur why not how much do you weigh about nine stone one hundred and thirty pounds I thought so it's not heavy enough but your advertisement you said safaris arranged to any time well I'll take you to any period in the centers Eric I'll get you a shot at any intelligent or even mammoth or mastodon they have fine heads but I'll jolly well not take you to the Jurassic or the Cretaceous you're just too small but what's my weight got to do with it look here oh boy what did you think you were going to shoot those dinosaurs with well I will look over here in this case that's my own gun a continental 600 that shoots a pair of nitro express cartridges the size of bananas it's designed for knocking down elephant not just wounding them but knocking them base over apex well now I've handled guns look I've been guiding hunting parties for over 20 years but I've never known a man your size who could handle a six nought nought it knocks him over well people have killed elephant with lighter guns even the 375 yes but consider an elephant weighs well let's say from four to six ton you're planning to shoot reptiles weighing two to three times as much as an elephant I tell you mr. Seligman I won't take anybody hunting dinosaurs who can't handle a six nought nought look let's pour another drink and I'll tell you why you see I went into the partnership with the Raj about five years ago I call him that because he's the hereditary monarch of Janpur it means nothing of course we both wanted to do a bit of hunting again and Africa's all played out it's too civilized now so when we heard of Professor Prohaska's time machine at Washington University we caught the next plane to st. Louis the foundation administering the machine had worked out an arrangement splitting the time between scientific parties and hunters who wanted to try their luck at prehistoric game hunters paid through the nose of course to support the project well it was about our fifth safari that Courtney James showed up is what you chaps call a playboy the big bloke hands him in a way flurry beginning to turn to fat he was on his fourth wife and when he showed up at the office with a blonde I assumed that this was the fourth mrs James and he left her in the outer office and corrected my assumption bunny oh no she's not my wife my wife is in Mexico I think getting a divorce but bunny here would like to go along I'm sorry we don't take ladies not to the late mesozoic if she wants to go she'll go she skis and flies my airplane so why shouldn't there are enough risks at 85 million bc without adding to them I'm sorry but it's against the firm's policy now look here I'm paying you a lot of money I'm entitled you can't hire me to do anything against my best judgment now if that's how you feel get another guide all right all right but let me tell you oh it ended with my telling him to get out of the office or throw him out and I was thinking sadly of all that lovely money that James would have paid me when he came another side an august whole singer slim ballchamp with glasses mr evers I don't want you to think I'm here under false pretenses I'm really not much of an outdoorsman and I'll probably be scared to death when I see a real dinosaur well most of us are frightened at first but I doesn't do to speak of it well you see I've always run a grocery store till my uncle died and well I've got a great deal of money now and Billy a new house I'm engaged you know getting married and well I'm determined to hang a dinosaur head over my fireplace or die in the attempt a seratopsian I think that's the one with a big horned head and the frill over the neck and well you want to think twice about that you know if you put a seven foot triceratops head into a small living room there's a have to be no room left for anything else I know it's ridiculous but I'm determined to do something big for once since there's no more real big game hunting I'm going to shoot a dinosaur and hang his head over my mantle I'll never be happy otherwise the Roger and I decided to make it to the middle Cretaceous that's about 85 million years ago it's the best period for dinosaur in Missouri so we drove Holtsinger into the country to let him try the six-naught-naught it's rather heavy look you look out there's quite a kick well couldn't you fire at prone oh not a gun that big there's not enough give you break your shoulder all right take the safety off like this take my hand I'll help you up I thank you I think I better try something smaller well he took a fancy to my Manchester 70 chambered for a 375 magnum cartridge it's a little light for elephant and very definitely light for dinosaur but we were in a hurry and then of course just before we were ready to trek james showed up and apologized for insulting me he'd had a run-in with the girl and he wanted to go along and so we were off on safari you all ready gentlemen why yes I suppose so now mr. Holtsinger you've met my partner the Roger of Jean pour how do you do sir how do you do well shall we get cracking after you mr. Holtsinger mr. james thank you let's get going all set we'll slam the hatch and off we go what happens nothing till the force field is built up ah there she goes what happened to the lights well there's no current while we're in transition I don't feel well there's usually a touch of vertigo I shouldn't worry about it look where do you shoot for her I mean with dinosaur what is the best shot well you don't try for his brain you know they don't have any ought to be exact they have a little bump about the size of a tennis ball on the top of their spines and you're not likely to hit it when it's embedded in a six foot skull and try for the heart they have big hearts over a hundred pounds and exploding shell in the heart will slow them down at least oh I see why do we have to go so far for a game why couldn't we just go back 50 years and shoot lions in Africa well the machine won't work more recently than a hundred thousand years ago why well look I'm no four-dimensional expert on the subject but it it has something to do with what they call time paradox you know if people could go back to recent times they might do something to affect history or kill their own grandfather you know and there's also some kind of taboo about sending people back to the same time again paradoxes mustn't have them what would happen I'm not sure but the university isn't taking chances they've got about a a billion years to cover they won't run out of ears hello here we go oh cheers eh well that's done it April 24th 85 million years BC now then careful keep the safety on your gun and don't shoot unless I give the word why why should we have to wait for you because I'm responsible for everything you do especially if something goes wrong I say Roger open the door will you in this period the time chamber materializes on top of a rocky rise at the west you see the arm of the Kansas Sea that reaches across Missouri and the big swamp where the sauropods live to the east the land slopes up to a plateau it's good for seratopsins the finest thing about the Cretaceous is the climate it's barmy like the South Sea islands and not so muggy as the Jurassic oh he sent the time chamber back off and looked about it was spring with the dwarf magnolias in bloom all over down towards the Kansas Sea cycads and willows grew while the uplands were covered with screw pins and ginkgo yeah well I'm no ruddy poet but I can appreciate a beautiful scene well I was looking through the haze and sniffing the air I got him I got him what the devil you see it there goes confounded you idiot I told you not to shoot without word from me and what happened I don't know for mine wandered out of the cops Mr. James gave him both barrels miss now look here James one of the biggest dangers on a safari is trigger happy sides who get panicky you're not to shoot unless you're told you understand who do you think you are to tell me when to shoot my own game now look here firstly if you shoot off all your ammunition before the trip is over your gun won't be available in case of a pinch and secondly if you empty both barrels what would happen if a big theropod should charge before you could reload and finally it's not sporting to shoot everything in sight is that clear all right all right well now then first task is fresh meat as I told you a whole singer wanted to sell a topsy and head James insisted on a tyrannosaur then everybody would think that he shot the most dangerous game the fact is the tyrannosaurs overrated but everybody's read about the tyrant lizard well he does have the biggest head of the theropods oh and he'll snap you up if he gets the chance no fear oh we started off searching for meat the raja and I put the sides in front yet we tell them so that they'll get the first shot which is true but another reason is that they're always tripping and falling with their guns cocked and if the guy were in front he'd get shot see crouching over there feeding on those psychics it's about the size of a man they look intelligent they're not likely that bulge on the head is solid bone now then hold on there James you've had your shot for the day or you're fired until whole singer shoots yeah sure sure all right go ahead mr. whole singer it doesn't matter which one no here try that one by the rock there's a good clear shot or take your safety off oh go ahead now well I'm not so good enough of this James don't I got him clean right through the heart first shot how's that I thought you were going to give whole singer the first crack it's his turn well I waited took so long I thought he'd gotten buck fever very well but if this sort of thing happens once more we leave you at camp the next time we go out the next couple of days we trekked around the neighborhood and then headed over to the sauropod swamp over to the west we were staked out along the edge of the lake watching a big beggar out in the swamp waving his head about and they're the big ones it looks something like the brunters or can't we shoot him I wouldn't why not well there's no point to it and it's not sporting look if you kill one in the water he sinks and can't be recovered and if you kill one on land well the only trophy is that little head on the top of that long neck you can't bring that whole beast back because he weighs 30 tons or more that museum in New York I thought oh yes well they sent a party of 48 to the early cretaceous with a 50 caliber machine gun they spent two solid months hacking and sawing the carcass apart and hauling it's the time machine I know the chap on the project and he still has nightmares in which he smells decomposed dinosaur and they also had to kill a dozen big sauropods who came in for the party and then they had them lying around too they lost three men up there the shoreline I keep your voices down you see with a crest on the back of their heads mr rivers I've been thinking over what you said about those heads if I could get one of those duckbills I'd be satisfied it had looked big enough over my mantle I'm sure of it oh boy well let's be off Roger you wait here with mr James shouldn't take us long Holt and I crept along the shoreline narrowing the range to the duckbills I think I can make the shot from here I'll be ready in a minute my shoe is loose he's getting away I won't get a shot I'm afraid mr James has fired both barrels again James that's the second time you spoiled my shots I'll be a fool I couldn't let them wonder into camp stamping everything flat there was no danger to that you can see that the water is deep offshore just that our trigger happy mr James can't see any animal without shooting and if it did get close all you have to do is to throw a stick of firewood at it they're perfectly harmless but how was I don't know I believe I mentioned it well what are we on this miserable trip for except to shoot things there are certain rules you know you call yourselves hunters I'm the only one who is hitting anything now just a moment old man you're behaving like a confounded skype with more money than brains I should never have brought you along that's how you feel give me some food and I'll go back to the base for myself don't be a bigger ass than you can help that's quite impossible all right I'll go alone I wouldn't want to pollute your air with my presence well that's an attractive portrait you better we can't let him go you'll get lost or starve all right I'll go after him we stumbled along for several more days James on his good behavior for a change and on the first of May we broke camp and headed north to the hills that was hot and sticky and we were soon panting and sweating like horses when I picked up the smell of carrion and heard the thrumming of the flies we found a huge cellotopsie and lying dead in a little hollow on the edge of the cops he must have weighed six or eight tons alive why couldn't I have gotten him before he died that would have made a darn fine head on your toes chaps the sauropod that's been at this carcass is probably nearby how do you love we see how the hides been ripped off and the bones are scattered sauropods will hang around a carcass like this for weeks gorging and then sleeping their meals off for days at a time what do we do well that's what we came after but Roger you take mr. James through that way and we'll parallel you 40 feet distant now keep your eyes open it'll be hard to see in these woods unless you're right on top of him we've pushed through the edge of the cops looking for the huge flesh eater who'd been at the carcass I could hear James and the Raja pushing ahead on my right we were separated by a gully when I heard a noise ahead on our left what is it I don't know take the safety off your gun oh there it is it's one of those boneheads oh well they're not dangerous at any rate but be careful that sauropod might still be around well he's done it again he shot the bonehead I got him the tyrannosaur heaved his head out of the shrubbery just in front of us but the scientists can insist that Rex is bigger than trionkeys but I'll swear that this tyrannosaur was bigger than any Rex ever hatched it must have stood 20 feet high and been 50 feet long I could see its big bright eye and six inch teeth he'd been sleeping off his last meal and James fired off both barrels over his head at the bonehead and woke the tyrannosaur up guns empty in Raja can't get a shot and it there goes the beast in behind those ferns hold singer hold singer come back your guns too light for that beggar James came bolting back in a panic and blundered into the Raja sending both of them sprawling under the ferns the tyrannosaur came after them to snap them up hold singer began to blaze away he got off three shots through the beast's body with that little light gun the tyrannosaur whirled around to see what was stinging it the jaws came open and the head swung around and down again hold singer got off one more shot and tried to leap to one side the tyrannosaur continued its lunge and caught him in its jaws as he fell Reggie Reggie stand clear that's the only chance it's no use there he goes try a long shot missed him clean poor hold singer well that's the end he stopped screaming did you notice oh yes well I expect we best track the beastie you might be dying we should try to recover hold singers remains yes there's nothing else to do no nothing the bad show all around and now later we gave up and went back to the glade looking very dismal well where have you two been we were occupied the late mr hold singer remember you shouldn't have gone off and left me another of those things might have come along it's not bad enough to lose 100 through your stupidity what sure you put us in front of you so if anybody gets eaten it's one of us that's you stinking little swine if you hadn't been a first class idiot and blown those two battles again this never would have happened hold singer died trying to save your worthless life and I wish he'd failed all right I got it now then my lady buck I'm glad you did that it gives me a chance I've been waiting for now get up and I'll be glad to finish off you won't finish anybody off all right put your hands up both of you put that gun away don't be an idiot I won't let anybody do that to me you can't get away with murder why not we'll be much left to you after you're hit with a 600 explosive shell nobody could prove anything they can't hold you for a murder 85 million years old the statute of limitations you know oh nice work right your old chap Cretaceous rock doesn't quite have the balance of a cricket ball but it's a bit harder what well suppose we tie this chap up and take him back to camp when the time transition chamber finally arrived we fell over one another getting into it we dumped James in a corner and threw the switches you too should have killed me back there why you don't have a particularly good head you wouldn't look at all well over a mantle you're gonna laugh but I'll get you someday in close quarters isn't it someday I'll find a way I'll find a way and I'll get off scot-free too my dear chap if there was some way to do it I'd have you charged with Holsinger's murder look you'd best let well enough alone oh no I'll kill you both of you somehow cigarette Roger thanks when we came out in the present we handed him his empty gun and off he went we paid everybody off found that we were broke but quite luckily a steel manufacturer turned up who wanted a mastodon head for his den well we were standing in the laboratory at the university waiting for the time chamber the technician he's a bookish chap a theoretical temporal physicist was watching his dials and scopes oh by the way Mr. Rivers you just missed him huh missed who that last client of yours Mr. James well that's good luck what was he doing here oh he told me quite a tale said he'd lost his wallet back there said it contained some very valuable papers must have been valuable paid the university fee of five thousand dollars for the use of the chamber he's on his way back there now back where well he told me to send him back a few minutes before you arrived the last time then he could see himself drop the wallet he's gonna stand there and watch himself come out yeah but um doesn't that create what you chips call a paradox uh what happens when a man tries to occupy the same time twice no we don't know it's never been tried before well we tried to warn him but he insisted yes I know he's a headstrong chef still he wouldn't think he'd chance it just for the sake of a wallet was he armed yes he had a 375 express 375 well that's odd he knows it's too light for dinosaurs yes but not too light for a man I say Roger you don't think Mr. James is lurking behind a bush back there until we show up again and planning to pot us as we step out that's impossible we already did step out of the chamber and nothing happened yeah but that was before Mr. James was waiting with an express rifle cocked hey doctor what you mean he's he's planning to murder the two of you wouldn't be a bit surprised now I uh I don't suppose there's anything you could do to stop the process now no it's too late the chamber's in transition now look hadn't you better get out of here before he kills you I was no point in running if mr. James's theory is right uh we've both been dead for 85 million years we might as well wait and see what happens transition point coming up well it's been quite a world up to this point hey Roger yes here it goes Reggie are you all right well I seem to be what happened the time chamber it's back we'd better get it open good lord look at that castley isn't it where did it come from I'm not sure I rather think it came from the middle Cretaceous era wasn't here a moment ago castley mess looks as if every bone was pulverized in every blood vessel burst I dare say but that's his gun all right it's James there's no doubt of it so that's the story mr. Silligman of course I don't understand the mathematics but the idea is rather easy to grasp nobody had shot us when we first emerged on the 24th of April 85 million BC so of course that couldn't be changed the instant James started to do anything that would make a paradox the space time forces snapped him forward and ripped him to bits well they know a good deal about that now and there's a safety margin of 500 years between each trip you can't have paradoxes you know just isn't done and you see I'm a lot more careful now I shouldn't have taken James when I knew what a spoiled unstable saw he was well whole thing either when I saw that he was too small to shoot a dinosaur gun with a heavier gun he probably have knocked the tyrannosaur down and saved his own life so mr. Silligman that's why I won't take you to that period to hunt I'm sorry but you're just too light you're not big enough to handle a gun for dinosaur you have just heard x minus one presented by the national broadcasting company in cooperation with galaxy science fiction magazine which this month features the story of a man who develops a spaceship that travels so fast that its pilots vanish mysteriously into thin air read the von schelten story point of departure in galaxy magazine on your newsstand now tonight by transcription x minus one has brought you a gun for dinosaur a story from the pages of galaxy written by l sprague de camp patent consultant and one of our leading authors of science fiction it was adapted for radio by earnest canoe featured in the cast were alistair duncan wendell holmes john gibson donald bucke warren parker and allen huett your announcer fred collins x minus one was directed by daniel sutter and is an nbc radio network production let's visit lovable fiver mcgee and molly tonight on the nbc radio network